Forex reserves at $203.9b; bank deposits beat loans

TNN|

Apr 28, 2007, 01.11 AM IST

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MUMBAI : In an unusual trend, banks recorded a surge in term deposits in the very first fortnight of the current fiscal. However, loans, after growing for weeks, dipped. Foreign exchange reserves rose $738 million during the week ended April 20 to touch $203.88 billion primarily due to revaluation of non-dollar assets in reserves.

According to the latest figures released by the Reserve Bank of India in its weekly statistical supplement (WSS), aggregate deposits mobilised by commercial banks rose Rs 7,407 crore during the fortnight ended April 13 to Rs 26,01,666 crore. While demand deposits dipped Rs 33,223 crore term deposits rose Rs 40,630 crore.

Normally, deposits mobilised by commercial banks in the last fortnight of the previous fiscal to prop up the year-end numbers tend to get reversed in the first fortnight of the next financial fiscal. But, this time round, while deposits continued to grow, though loans slipped.

Loans dipped Rs 17,064 crore during the fortnight to Rs 19,06,128 crore. Both food credit and non-food credit fell Rs 106 crore and Rs 16,806 crore, respectively. Investments in government and other approved securities, on the other hand, rose Rs 21,697 crore during the fortnight to 8,13,857 crore. The total stock of money in the system amounted to Rs 33,21,485 crore as on April 13, up Rs 25,841 crore over the previous fortnight. The year-on-year growth works out to 21.3%, as against RBI’s projected growth of 17% for the year.

Among other developments reported in the WSS, the government has refrained from resorting to ways and means advances — a temporary advance to meet its revenue mismatches. The government’s surplus revenues parked with the central bank dipped Rs 11,458 crore.